Caffiend: Conspire's Molotov Mocho

​Indie coffee shop/hipster gathering place Conspire (also known as The Coffee Conspiracy) is one of those places you go when you're not in a big hurry to get your coffee. Conspire tends to be frequented by regulars and people from the neighborhood, and its not unusual for the baristas here to take ten minutes to make a two-minute coffee drink because they're being chatty about art, politics, and neighborhood happenings.

But the caffeinated brews at Conspire are well worth the wait, especially the Molotov Mocho. This delicious java had us energized (but not uncomfortably so) for a solid three hours.

Conspire uses coffee beans from Cartel Coffee Lab, and they are excellent. Cartel's beans make for deeply heady roasts with minimal bitterness, and the Molotov Mocho was no exception.

The drink starts with a layer of chocolate syrup at the bottom of the cup, followed by two shots of espresso. Then the cup is filled with ice and milk (whole milk, in this case) and topped with whipped cream (optional).

It was love at first taste -- the Molotov Mocho was a perfect blend of bitter/sweet, and it tasted more like chocolate the closer we got to the bottom of the cup. Really, we could sum up this review with one word: yum!